EXHIBITION STATEMENT

Introduction

Many college students struggle with anxiety given daily life challenges that come with living and studying in college. Engaging in the arts is one of many ways they can cope with anxiety. Listening to music reduces negative feelings and has proven to alleviate nervousness. This capstone project aims to determine the potential of music in reducing stress The first portion of this project was literature research in music and anxiety. The rest of the project consisted of creating a short comic book presenting a story of how music can help students with stress problems.

Literature Review

Dr. Lu and et al.s’ study, The Anxiety and Pain Reducing Effects of Music Interventions, found a strong correlation between music listening and stress reduction. Music acts as a distractor, shifting one’s attention away from negative thoughts to something pleasant, thus resulting in a decrease of negative feelings. This leads to reduction of anxiety and an increase in positive feelings and happiness. This article demonstrated the efficacy of music in reducing anxiety (Lu et al.).

Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, presents an autobiographical story in black and white comics format. The use of comics strengthens the story and the central message of the text. The black and white format functions as a symbol of the dark nature of the author’s childhood (Satrapi). The style of comics in this graphic novel inspired the style of the final product of this project. Comics will not only enhance the message of the story, but the black and white format will describe the mental health state of a student struggling with anxiety. Yet, color is also used to depict symbols and how music can shift one’s black and white world to one with colors.

Methods

The first method was conducting a literature review on the practices and efficacy of music medicine and music therapy. Doing research answered the central question of this project and removed any uncertainties about the effectiveness of music in anxiety reduction. Listening to music is an effective non-pharmacological intervention that has the potential to reduce anxiety (Wakim et al.). For the final comic book product, each panel was drawn using a newsprint inker brush on an Ipad with Adobe Fresco. As Old comics used newsprint ink, this specific brush was utilized for this project. Most drawings are in black and white to illustrate the mental health state of a student struggling with anxiety in the story. Color is used to better portray symbols in the story. All the panels were finally put together using Adobe Photoshop.

Audience & Impact  

The audience for this capstone project is college students struggling with anxiety at the University of Maryland. Anxiety is very common among college students. Many students often fail to reach out for help. Thus, the medicinal and therapeutic nature of music can be a very valuable asset for them. Many students may not be aware of these qualities of music. This project will inform students about the anxiety reducing nature of music. Students can use this strategy to adopt listening to music as a habit to reduce anxiety and improve their mental health. Completing this project not only taught me the healing nature of music in reducing anxiety, but also gave me the opportunity to learn how to create comic books and present a story through this medium.

References

de Witte, Martina et al. “Music therapy for stress reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Health psychology review vol. 16,1 (2022): 134-159. doi:10.1080/17437199.2020.1846580

Dileo, Cheryl. “Effects of music and music therapy on medical patients: a meta-analysis of the research and implications for the future.” Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology vol. 4,2 (2006): 67-70. doi:10.2310/7200.2006.002

Hassler, Marianne. “Music medicine. A neurobiological approach.” Neuro endocrinology letters vol. 21,2 (2000): 101-106.

Lippi, Donatella et al. “Music and medicine.” Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare vol. 3 137-41. 16 Aug. 2010, doi:10.2147/JMDH.S11378

Lu, Guangli et al. “Effects of music therapy on anxiety: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.” Psychiatry research vol. 304 (2021): 114137. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114137

Nilsson, Ulrica. “The anxiety- and pain-reducing effects of music interventions: a systematic review.” AORN journal vol. 87,4 (2008): 780-807. doi:10.1016/j.aorn.2007.09.013

Oliveros, Pauline. Sonic Meditations: March - November 1971. Smith Publ. American Music,

1974.

Pauwels, Ernest K J et al. “Mozart, music and medicine.” Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre vol. 23,5 (2014): 403-12. doi:10.1159/000364873

Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York, Pantheon Books, 2007.

Stegemann, Thomas et al. “Music Therapy and Other Music-Based Interventions in Pediatric Health Care: An Overview.” Medicines (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 6,1 25. 14 Feb. 2019, doi:10.3390/medicines6010025

Wakim, Judith H et al. “The efficacy of music therapy.” Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses vol. 25,4 (2010): 226-32. doi:10.1016/j.jopan.2010.05.009

Yinger, Olivia Swedberg, and Lori Gooding. “Music therapy and music medicine for children and adolescents.” Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America vol. 23,3 (2014): 535-53. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2013.03.003

Acknowledgements 

I thank Heather-Erin Bremenstuhl, my faculty advisor, and my peers in CPSA250 for their guidance, helpful feedback, and assisting me with my capstone project from beginning to end.